Hi HC Dragon Slayer,

Thats great news! Thank you for getting back and sharing that with us. I know you and your wife are feeling better after hearing the results. Now you can concentrate on the weeks/months ahead and do your very best with your own Tx. 

As you move forward with Tx, I invite you to the Discussions section to share your progress in the "On Treatment" thread. If you share test results or side effect concerns, the members here will be anxious to follow your progress and offer their own helpful insight, as well as support. Again, welcome and please share our joy that her tests came back negative. Good luck and fight the good fight!

Tig

Thanks for the replies. 

I was wrong in using enzymes,  she has the antibodies.  The HCV RNA test came back negative so she is not infected, yeah....

Back in 1998 while being a blood donor, she was told she cannot give blood any more due to having hepatitis antibodies and to see our family doctor.  The family doctor had blood test done and no signs of any significant concerns showed up.

in 2002 and in 2007, we applied for life insurance and during their routine blood lab had no problems. We never thought of this again because she is relatively healthy

Prior to me starting my treatments, my gastro wanted to make sure my wife was not infected because we mentioned she could not give blood due to having antibodies.

The results are good, she does not have an active virus. 

My gastro wants her to be tested again in 4 months right around the time I complete my tx.  This way we will know we have a good baseline together.

Hello,

By enzymes, do you mean antibodies? Enzymes are as Matt said below, a blood test that shows the AST/ALT (and other) levels that can elevate with liver disease. A person can be positive for the HCV antibodies but negative for the active or chronic infection. A positive antibody test can indicate that a person was exposed to HCV and the body's own immune system battled the virus and stopped it from advancing to an active infection. A person that had an active infection, that turned to the chronic form of the disease, like most of us for example, then went through treatment and beat the infection (achieved  SVR) will also be positive for the HCV antibodies for life. That's why anyone that is positive for those antibodies can never give blood or donate tissue.

I believe your wife will be asked to have an HCV RNA test next. That shows whether there is a detectable virus level in her blood. We refer to it as a Viral Load test, you've had that test, so you're aware that it determines a quantitative virus level in the blood. (Has she already had this test performed?) The test shows whether the virus is detectable or undetectable. That will need to be done to determine if she has an active infection. A positive antibody test alone can't determine that. Also, a person that has shown positive for HCV antibodies and a negative RNA test has little chance of developing active HCV. Testing over a period of time, like a year, helps confirm this. Does this help explain it?

If you have any more questions, let us know. Be sure and use our search function at the top and you'll find a lot of additional info on this. Keep in touch.

Hello Dragon Slayer

Thats great news that your wife is negitive for the virus, as far as understanding the enzymes what enzymes is your her test referring to?

The most common enzymes that surrounds HCV is the your Liver enzymes ALT and AST these can be elevated when the liver is having issues.

To receive more acurate info we would need more specfic test names and numbers.

matt

I guess the enzymes show she was exposed to the virus and her immune system is fighting the virus but we are concerned about the future. 

 Does anyone know if having enzymes  can possible turn into obtaining the virus ?

What does being positive for the enzymes actual mean ?  Medical definition and laymen terms ?

We have a meeting with her doctor next week but as you can imagine, this is generating many conversations and thoughts for us.